


Now I'll Never Know.

by Skylar0Grace



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-07
Updated: 2010-02-07
Packaged: 2017-12-03 11:23:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylar0Grace/pseuds/Skylar0Grace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There was a sea of rainbow colours surrounding her and it somehow felt wrong.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now I'll Never Know.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by fanaticfan84's vid, ['Just A Dream – Rory/Tristan'](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9I3fZV9sQ).

* * *

_“Mary! Hey Mary!”_

_“Me?”_

_“Yeah you.”_

_“My name is Rory.”_

_“And I'm Tristan.”  
_

* * *

Rory walked through the lush green gardens and took note of all of the flowers that were growing. There was a sea of rainbow colours surrounding her and it somehow felt wrong. Everything seemed so happy, even the bird in the tree above her was happily chirping away and it stood out in contrast with all of the dark clothing she could see.

A man walked by her with his arms around a sobbing woman and Rory dropped her head. Not for the first time, she began wondering if she should even be there. They hadn't had contact in many years and she rarely thought about him. She'd been completely caught off guard when she'd seen the write up in her newspaper about his death and even more so when Paris asked her to go.

As she neared the cream building, Rory was surprised by the vast number of people standing outside. She'd arrived early, hoping to slip unnoticed into the crowd before Paris arrived and judging by the number of people milling about, that was not going to be a problem.

* * *

 

_“What Tristan?”_

_“I just wanted to say Happy Birthday.”_

_“It's not my birthday.”_

_“No, but it will be.”_

 

* * *

Rory glanced around at the growing crowd and tried to pick out familiar faces. There were several people she recognised from Chilton, Headmaster Charleston among them, but many more faces of those she didn't. Of course he'd had a life after leaving but she hadn't realised just how full that had been. It was the soldiers in dress uniform that reminded her once more of why she was here and she took a deep breath, exhaling in relief as Paris walked into view.

“Rory!”

Rory gave a small smile. “Hey Paris, hi Doyle.”

Her ex-editor merely nodded in response as Paris swivelled around to take in the surroundings. A group of sixty or more uniformed men marched toward the building and took their appointed places around it. Paris nodded toward an older man who had begun directing people inside and pulled Doyle's hand as she followed the crowd. Rory lost sight of them almost immediately and when she walked in the double doors, she had to searched for a chair in the mostly full room.

Seeing an unclaimed chair, Rory drew up alongside it and sat down. She stood, however, when an older lady with a walking stick ambled past her. Gently alerting the woman to her presence, she offered her the chair and received a genuine smile of gratitude in return as she leant up against the side wall.

Several people spoke, including his commanding officer and his older sister and Rory watched as the hard eyes of his father softened at the mention of all of his achievements, academic and otherwise. It seemed as if he had lived life to its fullest since she had last seen him.

Rory watched with interest as his best mate was called up, a well groomed man and fellow soldier who had been with him in his last moments.

* * *

 

_“What is wrong with you?”_

_“Okay, I gotta tell you something. I'm madly in love with you.”_

_“Well, good luck with that.”_

_“Well, I can't eat, I can't sleep – I wake up in the middle of the night calling out your name: Rory! Rory!”_

* * *

 

Corporal Jake Phillips stood and approached the podium. His uniform was immaculate but Rory noticed he had a slight limp with his left leg. He pulled a piece of folded, white paper from his pocket and unfolded it, smoothing it against the polished wood.

“Corporal Tristan DuGrey was more than a friend. He was a son, a brother; one of the best soldiers I knew. And he died protecting people, he died doing what he loved. No one can ever take that away from him. I remember meeting him for the first time at military school and he came up to me and said-”

Jake's eyes stopped as they landed on Rory and a small frown fell on his face. Almost as quickly as it had happened, he'd shaken the expression free and turned his eyes away from her. He looked back into the crowd before looking down at his paper.

“Uh, where was I?”

After another moment of silence, Jake looked back up with tears in the corners of his eyes. “I'm an only child. I'd always had a lot of friends growing up but until I met Tristan, I'd never had a brother. I know that I'll never forget him and I don't think anyone that has met him will either.”

Jake took a steadying breath before looking heavenward. “I hope you're finally at rest up there buddy.”

He stepped down from the podium and gave Tristan's mother a squeeze on the shoulder. She placed a hand over his and smiled up at him a sad smile, filled with thanks. He took his seat in the next row and cast a long look at the coffin in front of him, a small nod his final gesture.

* * *

 

_“Where's your boyfriend?”_

_“He's not my boyfriend anymore.”_

_“Why not?”_

_“Didn't want to be.”_

_“Idiot.”_

* * *

The gunfire caught her off guard and she jumped in shock as the first shot was fired. She looked around the room at the several other people who had also been surprised and presumed they had been lost in thought just as she had been when the final song was played for him.

Rory closed her eyes and held back the tears that were threatening to escape. As she opened them, she noticed most of the congregation following the casket outside to the hearse and moved silently with them to the blue sky outside.

Rory had just about reached the doors when a strong hand held her elbow and she turned around in surprise to see Jake pulling her aside.

“Rory Gilmore?”

She nodded and he continued, reaching into the pocket of his jacket and handing her a dirty, creased envelope.

“As soon as I saw you I knew it was you. He told me a lot about you. You were the reason he decided to turn his life around and I'm very thankful for that. I wish you could have met the man that he became but I know you would have been proud. He hoped that once his tour was over, he could come back home and get in touch with you again but... Anyway, he asked me to give you that before he died. It was the last thing he asked me to do.”

He offered her a broken smile before turning around and following the crowd outside. Rory watched him disappear in disbelief before she looked back at the letter in her hand. Written on the front of the envelope was 'Rory' and she jumped again as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Rory looked into the curious eyes of her friend.

“What's that?”

“It's... a letter from him.”

Paris nodded and steered Rory out the doors. The final wreaths were laid on the coffin before the hearse door was shut and the crowd started to part for it.

* * *

_  
“Oh man, it's a great party, huh?”_

_“Yeah, not bad. Gave me a chance to catch up on my reading.”_

_“You are very odd, you know that?”_

_“Thankyou.”_

_“You're welcome.”_

* * *

 

As the hearse pulled slowly out of the grounds and disappeared out of sight, a single tear fell down her face.

“Goodbye Tristan.”

* * *

 

_“I gotta go. So, I might kiss you goodbye but... your boyfriend's watching. Take care of yourself... Mary.”_


End file.
